4,327 research outputs found
Critical branching processes in digital memcomputing machines
Memcomputing is a novel computing paradigm that employs time non-locality
(memory) to solve combinatorial optimization problems. It can be realized in
practice by means of non-linear dynamical systems whose point attractors
represent the solutions of the original problem. It has been previously shown
that during the solution search digital memcomputing machines go through a
transient phase of avalanches (instantons) that promote dynamical long-range
order. By employing mean-field arguments we predict that the distribution of
the avalanche sizes follows a Borel distribution typical of critical branching
processes with exponent . We corroborate this analysis by solving
various random 3-SAT instances of the Boolean satisfiability problem. The
numerical results indicate a power-law distribution with exponent , in very good agreement with the mean-field analysis. This indicates
that memcomputing machines self-tune to a critical state in which avalanches
are characterized by a branching process, and that this state persists across
the majority of their evolution.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Recent results from BRAHMS
The BRAHMS collaboration ended its data collection program in 2006. We are
now well advanced in the analysis of a comprehensive set of data that spans
systems ranging in mass from p+p to Au+Au and in energy from to 200 GeV. Our analysis has taken two distinct paths: we explore the
rapidity dependence of intermediate and high-transverse-momentum,
identified-particle production, thus helping to characterize the
strongly-interacting quark-gluon plasma (sQGP) formed at RHIC; we also explore
particle yields at lower transverse momentum to develop a systematic
understanding of bulk particle production at RHIC energies.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, presented at the 20th International Conference on
Ultra-Relativistic Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions, "Quark Matter 2008", Jaipur,
India, February 4-10, 200
Dynamic capacity of isolated slab column specimens
Localized damage, particularly in flat plate structures, can cause a chain reaction of subsequent failures resulting in failure of a large portion or even the entire structure. This type of failure is known as a progressive or disproportionate collapse. While there are well documented cases of progressive collapses, there is still a lack of knowledge in regard to a structure's capacity to resist this potentially catastrophic failure mode. The goal of the overall research project is to determine the potential for progressive punching shear failures in flat plate buildings. After initial failure of a supporting member in a structural system, the loads initially carried by that member will be redistributed to surrounding connections at a dynamic rate. There has been little research to date on the dynamic loading effects on flat plate structures. By understanding the behavior of these slab-column connections and their response to dynamically applied loads, better predictions and more refined modeling can be done to investigate a structures ability to resist progressive collapse
Disrupted working memory circuitry and psychotic symptoms in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome.
22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11DS) is a recurrent genetic mutation that is highly penetrant for psychosis. Behavioral research suggests that 22q11DS patients exhibit a characteristic neurocognitive phenotype that includes differential impairment in spatial working memory (WM). Notably, spatial WM has also been proposed as an endophenotype for idiopathic psychotic disorder, yet little is known about the neurobiological substrates of WM in 22q11DS. In order to investigate the neural systems engaged during spatial WM in 22q11DS patients, we collected functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data while 41 participants (16 22q11DS patients, 25 demographically matched controls) performed a spatial capacity WM task that included manipulations of delay length and load level. Relative to controls, 22q11DS patients showed reduced neural activation during task performance in the intraparietal sulcus (IPS) and superior frontal sulcus (SFS). In addition, the typical increases in neural activity within spatial WM-relevant regions with greater memory load were not observed in 22q11DS. We further investigated whether neural dysfunction during WM was associated with behavioral WM performance, assessed via the University of Maryland letter-number sequencing (LNS) task, and positive psychotic symptoms, assessed via the Structured Interview for Prodromal Syndromes (SIPS), in 22q11DS patients. WM load activity within IPS and SFS was positively correlated with LNS task performance; moreover, WM load activity within IPS was inversely correlated with the severity of unusual thought content and delusional ideas, indicating that decreased recruitment of working memory-associated neural circuitry is associated with more severe positive symptoms. These results suggest that 22q11DS patients show reduced neural recruitment of brain regions critical for spatial WM function, which may be related to characteristic behavioral manifestations of the disorder
The Origin of Transverse Flow at the SPS
We study the transverse expansion in central Pb+Pb collisions at the CERN
SPS. Strong collective motion of hadrons can be created. This flow is mainly
due to meson baryon rescattering. It allows to study the angular distribution
of intermediate mass meson baryon interactions.Comment: submitted to Phys. Lett.
Field dynamics and kink-antikink production in rapidly expanding systems
Field dynamics in a rapidly expanding system is investigated by transforming
from space-time to the rapidity - proper-time frame. The proper-time dependence
of different contributions to the total energy is established. For systems
characterized by a finite momentum cut-off, a freeze-out time can be defined
after which the field propagation in rapidity space ends and the system decays
into decoupled solitons, antisolitons and local vacuum fluctuations. Numerical
simulations of field evolutions on a lattice for the (1+1)-dimensional
model illustrate the general results and show that the freeze-out time and
average multiplicities of kinks (plus antikinks) produced in this 'phase
transition' can be obtained from simple averages over the initial ensemble of
field configurations. An extension to explicitly include additional dissipation
is discussed. The validity of an adiabatic approximation for the case of an
overdamped system is investigated. The (3+1)-dimensional generalization may
serve as model for baryon-antibaryon production after heavy-ion collisions.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures. Two references added. New subsection III.E
added. Final version accepted for publication in PR
Genuine Three-Body Bose-Einstein Correlations and Percolation of Strings
Recent data show a large difference of the genuine three-body Bose-Einstein
correlations in S-Pb collisions and in Pb-Pb central collisions being close to
zero in the first case and to one in the second one. These results, unexpected
from conventional approaches, are naturally explained by the percolation of
colour strings produced in the collisions and subsequent incoherent
fragmentation of the formed clusters.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, ReVTe
Nuclear Modification Factor for Charged Pions and Protons at Forward Rapidity in Central Au+Au Collisions at 200 GeV
We present spectra of charged pions and protons in 0-10% central Au+Au
collisions at GeV at mid-rapidity () and forward
pseudorapidity () measured with the BRAHMS experiment at RHIC. The
spectra are compared to spectra from p+p collisions at the same energy scaled
by the number of binary collisions. The resulting nuclear modification factors
for central Au+Au collisions at both and exhibit suppression
for charged pions but not for (anti-)protons at intermediate . The
ratios have been measured up to GeV/ at the two
rapidities and the results indicate that a significant fraction of the charged
hadrons produced at intermediate range are (anti-)protons at both
mid-rapidity and
Pathogenic Variants in Fucokinase Cause a Congenital Disorder of Glycosylation
FUK encodes fucokinase, the only enzyme capable of converting L-fucose to fucose-1-phosphate, which will ultimately be used for synthesizing GDP-fucose, the donor substrate for all fucosyltransferases. Although it is essential for fucose salvage, this pathway is thought to make only a minor contribution to the total amount of GDP-fucose. A second pathway, the major de novo pathway, involves conversion of GDP-mannose to GDP-fucose. Here we describe two unrelated individuals who have pathogenic variants in FUK and who presented with severe developmental delays, encephalopathy, intractable seizures, and hypotonia. The first individual was compound heterozygous for c.667T>C (p.Ser223Pro) and c.2047C>T (p.Arg683Cys), and the second individual was homozygous for c.2980A>C (p.Lys994Gln). Skin fibroblasts from the first individual confirmed the variants as loss of function and showed significant decreases in total GDP-[3H] fucose and [3H] fucose-1-phosphate. There was also a decrease in the incorporation of [5,6-3H]-fucose into fucosylated glycoproteins. Lys994 has previously been shown to be an important site for ubiquitin conjugation. Here, we show that loss-of-function variants in FUK cause a congenital glycosylation disorder characterized by a defective fucose-salvage pathway
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